But more on that in a minute. First up, have you checked out the 12 Days of Down Under Christmas promotion? This baby is HUGE. 12 Australian and New Zealand authors, including myself, have banded together to offer 12 days of gorgeous giveaways and Christmassy fun stuff on our websites and blogs. Kris Pearson, Joanne Dannon, Cassandra O’Leary and Annie Seaton have already kicked off celebrations with their posts, with more authors to come.

I’m day 7, which will be this coming Friday (Aussie time), when you’ll not only have a chance to win a copy of my Christmas themed story Santa and the Saddler but salivate over a beautiful recipe.

Besides the individual author giveaways, there’s a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift voucher that you can enter too.

Each day I’ll be posting the links to my Facebook page. Follow me there to make sure you don’t miss out on my, or anyone else’s, giveaway.

As mentioned in the intro, THE COUNTRY GIRL is now less than 2 weeks away from release. Are you excited? I can’t wait for you all to see and hold it. A couple of early author copies turned up last week and the book is BEAUTIFUL! There’s gorgeous chapter art that you could even colour in for a bit of mindfulness, should you wish, and the spine and back cover have a pretty, homespun country feel. A perfect representation of THE COUNTRY GIRL’s heroine Tash.

Now for what we’re here for – a little taste of THE COUNTRY GIRL. Another short one this week. I don’t want to spoil things for you.

Here’s a little bit of Tash in foodie mode. Enjoy!

Tash continued to explain the recipe, measuring out ingredients while she chatted. It was a simple recipe, old-fashioned, using basic pantry supplies and indulgent quantities of muscovado sugar and butter. The spin of adding Pa’s home brew would also make it perfect for her cookbook.

‘And now for the ale,’ she said, levering the lid off the bottle. The liquid foamed as she poured. Grinning, she lowered her nose to the bowl. ‘You should smell this. It’s amazing but that’s hardly a surprise. My pa knows how to make a good drop.’

She sobered and stirred. ‘He also knows a thing or two about life. I’ve been mulling over what he said in his last video, about relationships and how you can’t grow them on stony ground. I’m a farm girl, and I know how important it is to look after our soils, to keep them healthy and fertile. If we don’t, nothing flourishes, and Pa’s right—it’s the same with friendships, or any relationship. You need to keep them nurtured. So today I’m going to nurture mine with indulgent food. Although it’s not really the food, but the thought and effort that matters. I want to show my friends that I care and that I’m thinking of them.’